Home	Strange Wonderful Things Rare and exotic plants & seeds

Red Brugmansia

Brugmansia sanguinea

Your seeds should be planted immediately for best results.

Getting started -- Give your seeds a rinsing before planting.  Soaking isn't necessary since the seeds are fresh.  Fill small containers most of the way with well-draining soil.  Most high quality potting soils should work. Water the soil and place 1 seed on it, then cover with 1/4" inch of soil.  Water the top soil lightly.  The best temperature for germination is about 65 to 70 degrees. Ensure that the soil surface does not dry out, but don't keep it soggy.

When the seeds sprout, give them bright light.  Shade from strong mid-day sun.

Watering --  Brugs do best with regular, deep waterings. I recommend using a moisture meter probe, which you can get from most garden and hardware stores for about $5. You simply stick the probe down to where most of the roots are and read the needle. I water when it's about halfway dry or slightly less.

Fertilizing -- Brugs like more food than most plants. Any balanced vegetable fertilizer should work. When your plant starts putting on rapid growth, you can increase the feedings to slightly more than the label's recommended dosage (about 20%-30 more). Cut back on the feedings if your plant goes through a dormant period, and increase the feedings when growth is quick. It's normal for Brugs to shed some of their older leaves throughout the year, but excessive leaf yellowing and shedding is often a sign of not enough fertilizer, particularly nitrogen.  By the way, most potting soils contain fertilizer, so your newly-sprouted seedlings shouldn't need feeding for at least 2 weeks.

Transplanting - When your seedlings are 4-5" tall, gently transplant them to 2 to 4 quart containers.  When the roots poke out of the bottom of the containers, you can plant them in the ground in suitable areas. If you choose to keep it in a container, i recommend at least a 20 gallon size if you plan on letting it grow big. Avoid disturbing the root-ball whenever you transplant, as they are fairly touchy.  After transplanting, give them less sun for a week while they recover.

Placement in the garden -- Full sun is usually too much for Red Brugmansia, except in cool, coastal areas like California. The ideal would be either filtered sunlight the whole day, or morning + afternoon sun, with mid-day shade.  It flowers best in cooler temperatures, so give it mid-day shade in warm areas, and don't plant it where heat can collect, like near a wall.  Keep the roots cool if necessary with a thick layer of mulch.  It can tolerate light frosts, but try to provide overhead protection and also mulch well. If the freezes aren't hard, new growth will emerge from under the mulch in the spring.  

Pruning & shaping -- You can prune your plants to any shape you wish.  Avoid pruning more than 15-20% of the plant in a week.  

Bugs to watch for -- Whitefly, spider mites (tiny "dots" under the leaves), Japanese beetles, aphids (green ones are hard to see), snails/slugs.

If you have any questions or problems, feel free to email me.

Good luck with them!

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